On the one hand, the entirely internal conflict within the majority over the aHome insurance against catastropheswith the League that vetoes any obligationon the other, tensions between the government and Emilia-Romagna over the money allocated and spent, exacerbated by the approach of the regional elections scheduled for two months.
The controversies and consequences of responsibility that animate every Italian post-emergency are repeated regarding the flood that hit Emilia Romagna and the Marche. With the Prime Minister trying to exclude herself: ‘I prefer to work, I leave the controversies to others,’ says Giorgia Meloni on a visit to the G7 on Agriculture in Syracuse, underlining the allocation by the Council of Ministers of 24 million – 20 for the ‘Emilia Romagna and 4 for the Marche – to deal with the first emergency. «We convened the Council of Ministers in real time – says the Prime Minister – we declared a state of emergency, we made an initial allocation of 20 million for emergencies and we remained in agreement with the Region that we will then assess the damage when we have the more clear the extent of what happened, in the first hours it becomes a little difficult. I spoke yesterday with the president, with the competent minister, with the head of civil protection and with General Figliuolo”.
But while in Emilia-Romagna and Marche we work to clean the mud from houses, roads, warehouses and fields, battered by the bad weather of recent days – hoping that the disturbance announced for Monday does not bring new destruction – it is in its own majority that the stronger controversies. With the League targeting the Minister of Civil Protection Nello Musumeci, guilty of having spoken about the obligation of anti-disaster policies for families. Although then, leaving the Council of Ministers, he corrected his approach: «There is an open discussion, a reasoning to understand if the companies are available. We are aiming for a public-private partnership, then we need to decide whether it should be, as I maintain at least in the first phase, optional.” Words that are not enough for Matteo Salvini. “The State can give indications, but we do not live in an ethical State where the State imposes, prohibits or obliges us to do things.” Also because, adds MP Stefano Candiani, the obligation would be equivalent to a “tax in favor of insurance companies”. Therefore, he concludes, it is a proposal that is “not acceptable and unacceptable”. However, the controversy over the compulsory policy for businesses, which arose from an FdI amendment which postponed its entry into force by one year, to 31 December 2025, is back. There will be no postponement, the Ministry of Business says, as agreed by Urso and Giorgetti. And the amendment to the Omnibus decree was withdrawn. The other controversy is the one between the government and Emilia Romagna.
A clash that is destined to worsen the closer the elections get. Salvini underlines that “a lot of money has been sent to the Region” and therefore “it will be right to understand if everyone has done their part”. Words rejected by the sender by the acting president Irene Priolo who invites the leader of the League and Musumeci to “go and check” the expenses incurred by Emilia-Romagna for the flood emergency in 2023, given that everything is “accounted for down to the cent” and among other things, the databases are available to the government and its ministries. And Romano Prodi also intervenes to defend the Region’s actions. “Attacking with water up to your waist – says the former prime minister – is for crows, especially when you are completely wrong.” The state of emergency measure approved by the government will last 12 months and concerns the provinces of Reggio Emilia, Modena, Bologna, Ferrara, Ravenna, Forlì-Cesena and Rimini, as well as the Marche Region. The funds, 24 million in total, will be used to deal with the first urgent interventions such as assistance to displaced people, halved compared to 2,500 on Friday. A “starting point”, underlined Priolo. Because to fix half of Romagna that has ended up under water, many more will be needed.